It's important to have a good system of rewards. There's no substitute for good old fashioned praise but actual prizes as it were go a long way. The conventional wisdom is that small and many is better than big and few when it comes to such things so I have a stash of little goodies. I try to avoid going down the 'sweeties' route, partly because I find some children's obsession with sugar a little irritating.

One of my year tens had done some excellent work on a very difficult topic on Wednesday so I gave her a little reward badge. The next time I see the class she tells me that her mum's buying her a new phone for getting the badge. It's astonishing the knock on effects of how you deal with your pupils. After recieving a certificate from me a few years ago another pupil had been given ten pounds by her mum. I suggested she owed me a fiver...